


Miscalculations

by ranpoandpoe



Series: Pride Month Writing Requests [6]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Dates, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Ling Yao, M/M, Minor Winry Rockbell/Paninya/Lan Fan, My First Work in This Fandom, Non-Binary Ling Yao, Polyamorous Character, Public Display of Affection, Trans Character, Trans Edward Elric, edwin are exes, lan fan uses they/them pronouns, paninya is a he/him lesbian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 06:50:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19246021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ranpoandpoe/pseuds/ranpoandpoe
Summary: "Ling Yao giggled at the screen, feeling pathetic. Pathetically lovesick."(or: the one where Edward Elric is oblivious and not used to PDA. Ling decides to invite him to watch a horror movie in the cinema.)





	Miscalculations

**Author's Note:**

> another pride month prompt! it's been more than a week since i published anything because i'm going through a minor writers block haha fun *sweats* 
> 
> anyway! the curiouscat request was edling + holding hands. this is my first time writing edling so i hope i made them justice? shjsksisksl also i'm sorry if there are typos here it's too late for me to revise :/

It was a known fact that Edward Elric hated public demonstrations of affection. He kissed Winry’s forehead once or twice, when they were dating, and stroked his younger brother’s hair sometimes, to praise him, and that was it. Except that, he would push away everyone who dared to touch him in public, especially when it was unexpected. 

 

However, it was different when the one who did it was Ling Yao. The foreign student was remarkably touchy with their friends, and Elric was no exception. They would hug Edward, grab his hand to take him somewhere, and randomly stroke his hair during a conversation, if bored. 

 

And Edward, for everyone’s surprise, let them. Not like a normal behavior, but his cheeks would turn red every time he was shamelessly touched by Ling. 

 

At first, everyone thought Edward was just angry; it wasn’t unusual for Ed’s face to turn red out of anger, after all. But it  _ was _ unusual for him not to do anything about it. The first one to notice was Al; the youngest Elric knew his brother too well and for too long to be unable to recognize most of Edward’s emotions. 

 

The second one to notice was Winry. Because of her two months as Ed’s girlfriend, she knew the minimum about his reactions to affection, and the way he blushed furiously and glanced at Ling every ten seconds was definitely a crush. Besides, as childhood friends, she was the person who knew Edward the longest after Alphonse, which made her even more skilled at reading him. 

 

Then, Paninya and Lan Fan soon found out, because Winry wasn’t good at keeping secrets from her significant others  — and she was  _ also  _ a terrible liar. And Lan Fan definitely couldn’t  _ not  _ tell their sibling that they were the object of Ed’s affection. 

 

Which meant that everyone knew. Except for Edward Elric himself.  

 

**_____________________**

 

Ling Yao didn’t know what else to do. There was nothing else they could do, they were running out of options. Lan Fan had already given them countless suggestions: touching Ed in a more intimate way then hugging (Ling tried and Ed’s reaction was the same: blushing); asking to accompany him to the library (Ed didn’t notice the intentions behind it and spent the whole time reading a Chemistry book  _ for fun _ , making Ling regret falling for a huge nerd), and, finally, asking him to accompany them to the cinema. 

 

The latter was the current plan Ling prayed to be the one that would make Edward Elric their boyfriend. Quickly, Ling grabbed their phone, before they lost the confidence to text Ed. 

 

_ “edward~”  _ Ling typed. They had read somewhere on the internet that using ‘~’ after texts would give it a flirty tone and they were too desperate to not to try.  _ “theres a cool horror movie that released this week!!!!!! wanna go with me” _ . 

 

As usual, Ed read the message less than a minute after it was sent. He spent ten seconds to type  _ “When?” _

 

_ “4 pm tomorrow.” _

 

Ed read it immediately, but, this time, the reply took longer to come than the previous one. 

 

_ “fine. do NOT be late” _

 

_ “you know im too excited to see you to do that darlin ;)” _

 

_ “shut up” _

 

Ling Yao giggled at the screen, feeling pathetic. Pathetically lovesick.

 

**_____________________**

 

When Ling crossed the cinema’s doors, his phone’s clock marked 3:56 pm. They actually didn’t lie to Ed when they said they were too excited to see him to be late. Ling wasn’t the most responsible person in the world, but they would definitely make an effort for Edward.

 

Punctual as usual, Ed appeared at the cinema exactly four minutes after Ling. Deciding that they wouldn’t waste a minute, Ling grabbed Ed’s arm, squeezing it as they said “hi” and the boy’s reaction was just what they expected: his cheeks instantly became red. Ling smiled to themself as both of them walked towards the cinema room. 

 

Ling had a whole scenario planned: they’d both mock the trailers as much as they could. When the movie started, they would already have laughed a little bit. It was a horror one, and Ling had purposely bought tickets for the last seats in the room, that allowed them to put the armrest away. 

 

Everything was happening just as planned. The trailers were definitely not trailers that would attract the general public of a horror movie, which made Ed and Ling discuss the theatre’s terrible marketing strategies. After a romantic comedy’s trailer, both the screen and the room gradually became darker, until the only light sources in the room were the stairs and the emergency exit’s sign. 

 

The scenes passed by and Ed continued unbothered, as Ling had predicted; Edward didn’t look like the kind of person who would be afraid of horror movies. Neither did they, to be honest, but, for the sake of the plan, they could make an act for an hour and a half. Patiently, they waited for the next scene with a bit of suspense. They didn’t need to wait long. Soon enough, the blonde, white, skinny main character entered a dark room. It was quiet and the only sounds were the heels the character was surprisingly wearing during her escape and people obsessively grabbing popcorn from their bags. 

 

The room’s door suddenly opened and Ling let out a gasp, which made Ed look at them. There was a tiny smirk on his lips, as if he wouldn’t forget to make fun of Ling later for being afraid of trashy horror movies. Ling had previously decided that if they got a kiss after or during the movie, that didn’t matter. 

 

The girl in the movie looked back as soon as she heard the creepy noise of the door opening (like it begged for a little bit of oil), not an unusual one for horror movies, and her eyes widened with the view (which the audience wasn’t allowed to see.) 

 

It didn’t take a lot of time for her to scream and, just as planned, Ling held Ed’s wrist. They tightened the touch every time something remotely scary happened in the movie, and, from time to time, checked Edward’s reaction: he was no longer paying attention at the movie, but only looking at Ling’s hand every five seconds, with a confused look in his eyes.

 

The movie ended about half an hour after this. Ed still had a confused look on his face. 

 

“You held my hand,” Edward noticed. 

 

“I held your hand.”

 

“Why?”

 

For someone so smart, Ed was especially stupid at that moment. 

 

“Because I like you, of course!”

 

“You… you  _ what _ ?!” Edward seemed almost aggressive  — Ling knew him, though, so they knew he was only incredulous. 

 

“I like you! I thought you had noticed already.”

 

“I… I didn’t,” Ed looked contemplative, as if there were too many things for him to think about at the moment. There probably were, to be honest. “Since when?”

 

“Can’t really tell, but it’s been a while. You’re more charming than you think, Elric.”

 

Ling winked and Ed blushed  — it was clear as water that he hated the fact that he did. 

 

“Is… um. Is that why you are…  _ touchy  _ with me?”

 

Ed hesitated a few times. He seemed to be sure of what he wanted to say, which made Ling believe that the hesitation was related to his choice of words.

 

“I am touchy, not only with you, but I’m especially touchy with you, because I like you, yes. You look cute when you blush.”

 

“Shut up,” Ed whispered, but his red cheeks said the contrary. “I like you too.”

 

Those words melted Ling’s brain. “Good! Because I like you too.”

 

“You already said that, idiot.”

 

Every detail of the night had already been planned by Ling, except that one. In their fantasies, they would put their arm next to Edward, pressing his body on the wall. The boy would blush, and Ling would kiss him with a smile on their lips. 

 

Edward grabbing them by the collar and putting both of their lips together was a sweet miscalculation. 

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE COMMENT this ficwriter loves comments. a lot. (also check my twitter if you want it's @edogawaspoe)


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